The Advocate News (Wilton-Durant, Iowa) Thursday, April 26, 2012 Page 9

OpiniOn
Commitment to community

s a treat to readers this week, we are to his audiences. Failla retired after 27 years printing AN publisher Bill Tubbs as a police officer for Suffolk County in Long Impressions column from the April Island, N.Y. He also acted in 60 regional 25 edition of the North Scott Press. theater pieces, three feature films and one offIn it, he does a wonderful job describing Broadway play. While on the Suffolk County the importance of SF 430, a bill that created police force, he spent time on patrol, as an the Iowa Public Information Board, an entity instructor at the academy, as a police recruiter that will help citizens of our state with issues and as a warrant enforcement officer. surrounding Iowas Open Meetings and Public He also helped collect information on missRecords laws. ing persons after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist Please give it a read, as transparency is attacks on the World Trade Center buildings. something we strive and fight for in this busiHe began speaking publicly at schools in ness. We owe it to you, our 1999 and specializes in readers, to do what we can motivational workshops to provide public informafor students, staff develoption. Based on the fact that ment and parental seminars we cover two school boards on diversity, civility, civic and two city councils on a responsibility, character constant basis, questions development, violence and issues surrounding reduction and driver safety By Derek Sawvell openness do come up. awareness. He speaks to This board will provide students from fifth through all of us with an outlet for information and 12th grade. advice revolving around tough questions/isI went to his session with WHS juniors sues. and seniors. He was slated for two hours and Like Bill, I would say a big ThankYou to Jeff I remember going in thinking that two hours Kaufmann, who championed this legislation was a long time. Then after hearing his fastand has been in the corner of open government talking, thick Italian accent, I was wondering from the beginning. Its refreshing to have a if he had enough material. local legislator who fights for openness. He did and then some! The event was Youll also notice in Bills editorial that organized by Brenda Grunder and Cori McKI was recently named to Editor & Publisher enzie of WHS, along with contributions from magazines 25 Under 35 for 2012 (See pic- local entities. ture on this page and our Facebook page for a His powerful stories and fast talking colink to a digital version). Its been a humbling medic tone commanded attention. The way he experience to say the least, to be recognized could act or portray the characters in his on a national level and get Durant and Wilton stories was fantastic! He spoke about several on the map for excellence in journalism. important topics to the 11th and 12th graders, I admit that I didnt know anything about such as bullying, drug abuse, respect, leaderthis until I was contacted by one ship, proper cellphone use, etc. And based on of the assistant editors at Editor his law enforcement background, you & Publisher, telling me about can bet he has first-hand the selection. I was then asked knowledge of what a few questions about the inhes talking about. dustry and asked for a photo He played and sang something that wasnt a along with the radio, head or mug shot. including having stuThis was difficult for dents participate, and someone like me, who was very engaging. In takes thousands of photos this day and age of 24a month but has hardly hour news and Internet any of himself. Perhaps cycles, I dont know if theres a definition of every one of his words or irony somewhere in stories sank in, but I feel there. Nevertheless, its safe to say he was cerI was able to give tainly someone you dont them a photo and anforget. swer their questions, He talked about the danmuch of which was gers of sexting sending printed in the April, explicit pictures and messages 2012 edition of the magazine. via text message and the While I dont want to use this space to dangers and legal implicatoot my own horn, I would just say that I t i o n s involved. Along that line, he try my best to be a man about town in our said that the texting language is killing communities each week, in order to provide us. I couldnt agree more. I always say that our readership with a product they can be one of the biggest rude awakenings for kids proud of. And that doesnt happen without today is when they sit across the desk from a an excellent staff. When I look at our issue potential employer for that first job interview. every week cover-to-cover, Im always a bit What will it be like to actually talk face-to-face amazed and very impressed with what our small with someone? staff of four (and our EXTREMELY valuable He also spoke about being leaders as contributors) is able to turn out. Kudos to our opposed to followers. Leadership is comteam! mitment, he said. Again, I couldnt agree We made our mark with the Iowa Newspaper more! Association earlier this year, when the AN won For more information on Paul Failla, you its first ever First Place award at the annual can visit his website: www.pdfailla.com. Iowa Newspaper Association Convention and Trade Show for our front page coverage of RAGBRAI last year. With gaining this national award, the state and rest of the nation know who we are and well continue to strive to give them a product to be proud of, as we have a commitment to community! *** Life lessonsTypically around this time, as WHS and DHS prepare for prom, I go to Wiltons etiquette dinner for its senior class, held each year at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. Due to some scheduling conflicts, I was unable to attend. I was, however, given an opportunity to listen to a very charismatic speaker when Paul Failla visited WHS April 19, to speak to the high school student body and staff. Failla provides what he calls edutainment Paul Failla speaks to WHS students April Photo by Derek Sawvell (combination of education and entertainment) 19.

At last! A great benefit

(Editor's note: This column, written by AN publisher Bill Tubbs, was printed in the North Scott Press April 25.) The North Scott Press does not give money to political campaigns. When an issue comes up that affects us, we reach out and talk with our state legislators or send them emails to ask their support to either stop a bad bill or promote a good one. Decisions are based on the merits of the bill. No votes are "bought." Since we are in the business of providing information for our readers, anything that affects the free flow of public information is No. 1 in our priorities. This is neither a liberal nor a conservative issue, rather a matter of good government. Citizens cannot make educated judgments or evaluate the effectiveness of their city, county or school if information is withheld. Toward that objective, newspapers and other groups have been pushing hard for five frustrating years to persuade legislators to create the Iowa Public Information Board to provide a place where citizens can go to get their questions answered and resolve disputes involving Iowa's Open Meetings and Public Records laws. The bill creating the Board (SF 430) passed the Iowa Senate 49-0 last year and has the full support of Gov. Terry Branstad, but languished in the House until last week when, thanks to the untiring efforts of state Rep. Jeff Kaufmann (R-Wilton) to overcome objections within his own majority caucus, it finally reached the floor and passed on a vote of 92-7 with enforcement powers (the guts of the bill) intact. At last! Late Monday (April 23) we received notice that the Iowa Senate passed the House-amended bill on a vote of 49-0. It now goes to the governor who advocated for it and will sign it. Monday was thus a great day for Iowans and those that serve as their watchdogs over government. In the words of state Sen. Pam Jochum (D-Dubuque), "The sun is shining today and today we are going to shine the sun on Iowa government. Hallelujah! In a perfect world, we wouldn't need the Iowa Public Information Board, but the reality is that we do. Even though we have relatively good laws pertaining to Open Meetings and Public Records, nobody has been eager to enforce them. The county attorneys and attorney general who are themselves part of the government have shown by their actions (or lack thereof) that they'd rather have a root canal than bring an action against a city council, school board or county board of supervisors. Most of the time, our local elected officials who serve on these boards are motivated in the public interest and wish to do the right things. But sometimes they don't know what the law says, and on rare occasions, they shun public disclosure. In the former situation, the IPIB would provide education, and in the latter, enforcement. The board's rulings would have the force of law, but could be appealed to the district court. There have been times over the years when we would have found the Public Information Board helpful. In the late 1980s a bus driver sued the North Scott School District for wrongful termination and won a settlement that was sealed. The Iowa Newspaper Association and the Iowa Freedom of Information Council (a consortium of media groups that works for openness) were so energized over the secrecy imposed by the insurance company that they met with state officials, including the insurance commissioner, and actually got the Legislature to pass a law requiring full disclosure of settlements involving tax money. The North Scott settlement was never made public, but future settlements were. The Public Information Board sure would have helped! Currently, I am working with Derek Sawvell, the managing editor of the affiliated Wilton-Durant Advocate News, who is seeking public records from the nearby Durant School District, including legal costs incurred in that district's 2-1/2-year unsuccessful attempt to terminate high school principal Monica Rouse. The Iowa Supreme Court recently refused to hear Durant's appeal of a lower court ruling upholding Rouse's right to her job, and as a result, starting April 23, the high school of 250 students currently has two full-time principals Rouse, and the individual who was hired to replace her. The information was requested April 13 and as of press time (April 23) the paper was still waiting. Durant is an excellent district and we expect full disclosure, but should there be any hiccups along the way, the Public Information Board would be of great benefit. (The nine-member board won't start until July 2013 at an annual cost of $122,500.) Regardless, we will pursue these public records on behalf of citizens who have asked us to help because they care deeply about their schools. As an aside, the Advocate News under Sawvell's leadership has provided detailed coverage of the Rouse proceedings more than any other media. As one might imagine, there are strong feelings on all sides, and Sawvell has played it as close to "down the middle" as possible, focusing on the paper's mission of providing coverage of all points of view without bias. Recently, Editor & Publisher magazine, a national trade journal, named Sawell, 29, to its prestigious "25 under 35" for outstanding young journalists in America. We're proud of Derek and appreciate his efforts on behalf of the citizens of Durant and Wilton and the surrounding communities. We are also especially appreciative of the leadership of Rep. Kaufmann, without whom the Public Information Board would not have been approved. The fact that it was taken up late in the session when legislators have their plate full with substantive issues like the budget, mental health and property tax reform, indicates how important it was. The fact that it passed with the enforcement mechanism intact when a House leader wanted to strip that all-important provision, speaks to Kaufmann's leadership and effectiveness as a legislator. To all of our area legislators who voted for the Public Information Board, we say thank you, but especially Kaufmann. He is a citizen legislator in the best Iowa tradition. He announced earlier this year that after eight years he will not seek another term, and we wish him well. He holds a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Iowa and is a history professor at Muscatine Community College. Among his legacies will be openness in government.

Case in Point

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